How to save ChatGPT chats to Obsidian as Markdown files

3 minutes 6 steps Updated

Quick answer

Install Kortex and let it save your chats. In the Library, open the ⋯ menu on All chats and choose Keep a Markdown copy. Pick your Obsidian vault folder once. Kortex writes one Markdown file per chat into the vault's Kortex folder and updates it when the chat changes.

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How to save ChatGPT chats to Obsidian as Markdown files
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Here's how to keep every ChatGPT chat as a Markdown file in your Obsidian vault, with Kortex. Open the Library from the side panel's Chats tab. Your saved ChatGPT chats are in All chats, with chats from Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Grok.

Click the three dots at the top of the list, next to Select. Choose Keep a Markdown copy. Click Change and pick your vault folder.

In an Obsidian vault, Kortex puts the files in a folder called Kortex. Chrome asks for permission to write there, so allow it. Leave Keep the copy up to date ticked, so changed chats are rewritten.

Tick Include videos that have a saved transcript to add those. Type your vault's name in Obsidian vault to get Open in Obsidian on each chat. Click Write all now.

The dialog says how many files are up to date. Then click Done. New chats and changes follow on their own.

In Obsidian, open the Kortex folder in your vault. Write your own notes under the marker line at the end of a file. Kortex keeps them when it updates the file.

Every ChatGPT chat, as a file in your vault.

  1. Open the Library

    Open the Library from the side panel's Chats tab. Your saved ChatGPT chats, and chats from Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Grok, are in All chats.

    The Library's All chats view with saved chats listed by day, a ⋯ button beside the Select button at the top of the list, and one chat open in the reader.
    All chats lists every saved chat by day. Open one to read it in full beside the list.
  2. Open ⋯ on All chats and choose Keep a Markdown copy

    Click the ⋯ button at the top of the chat list, next to Select. Choose Keep a Markdown copy…. A dialog opens that explains Kortex keeps one Markdown file for each chat in a folder you choose.

  3. Choose your Obsidian vault folder

    Click Change and pick the folder. If it is an Obsidian vault, Kortex puts the files in a folder called Kortex inside it. Chrome asks for permission to write there, so allow it.

    The Keep a Markdown copy dialog showing the chosen folder with a Change button, two switches, an Obsidian vault field, and the Write all now and Done buttons.
    A folder of Markdown files, kept up to date.
  4. Set the options

    Keep Keep the copy up to date ticked so changed chats are rewritten. Tick Include videos that have a saved transcript to add those videos. Type your vault's name in Obsidian vault if you want Open in Obsidian in each chat's ⋯ menu.

  5. Click Write all now, then Done

    Write all now writes every chat at once. The dialog then says how many files are up to date. Click Done. New chats and changes follow on their own.

  6. Open a chat in Obsidian

    In Obsidian, open the Kortex folder in your vault. Or open a chat in the Library, click ⋯ and choose Open in Obsidian. Write your own notes under the marker line at the end of a file. Kortex keeps what you write there when it updates the file.

If it doesn’t work

The copy stopped updating
A moved folder or a full disk stops it. The foot of the Library's sidebar says so, with the fix. Open Keep a Markdown copy again and choose the folder.
Chrome asks for permission to write to the folder again
Chrome asks again after a restart, unless you chose Allow on every visit. Allow it, and Kortex continues where it stopped.
A chat is missing from my vault
Chats in a private folder are left out of the Markdown copy. Turn off private in the folder's menu or the Privacy view if you want them included.

Questions people ask

Something we missed? Ask us.

Will Kortex overwrite notes I write in the files?

No. Each file ends with a marker line, and anything you write below it is kept when Kortex updates the file. Kortex only changes files it made.

Can I just export one chat as Markdown instead?

Yes. Open the chat in the Library, click ⋯ and choose Download as Markdown. You get one .md file in your downloads folder.

Does it work for Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Grok chats too?

Yes. The Markdown copy writes every saved chat, whichever AI it came from, in the same folders as your Library.

Does it need Obsidian?

No. Any folder works, and any notes app that opens Markdown can read the files. Naming an Obsidian vault only adds Open in Obsidian to each chat's menu.

Does it work on a phone?

Kortex runs in Chrome on your computer and writes files to a folder on that computer. The Kortex docs describe this only on a computer.

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